


Something Not Too Dissimilar To Kindness

by traptrixnepenthes



Category: Tales of Destiny, Tales of Symphonia, Tales of the Rays (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, also its like. leon -> stahn specifically. i love baby crushes, i also love that mithos gets to have friends in torays. here's another friendship!, i should've had chaltier participate in this leon bullying fest too what's wrong with me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29361903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traptrixnepenthes/pseuds/traptrixnepenthes
Summary: i was talking a lot with a friend recently about mithos and leon being friends in torays... they're very similar once you get right down to it, to an almost comedic level, so here's something short illustrating what i think that kind of dynamic would be like!
Relationships: Genis Sage/Mithos Yggdrasill, Stahn Aileron/Leon Magnus
Kudos: 9





	Something Not Too Dissimilar To Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> i know i've posted three mithos/genis fics in less than 24 hours. don't worry about it. please. please

Mithos’s visits to the hideout were still few and far between, but Genis had adapted to that, for the most part. Whenever he did show up, at least everyone understood when Genis put everything else to the side so he could bounce up and make something for Mithos--last time, it had been chocolate cake, and this time, it was strawberry jam cookies. The ritual was thus: Mithos would find him first, they would say their hellos, Mithos would give him a gift, and then Genis would ask Mithos to wait for him near the dining room so that he’d be easy to find once snacks were made. After that, they’d spend the rest of the visit...doing whatever, it never really mattered. It couldn’t _all_ be carefully planned out.

Genis had made the dough himself, but jam was harder to make on short notice, so he was using some from the hideout’s kitchen--at the very least, it still tasted good, and even if he’d rather have been able to make Mithos something completely from scratch on his own, he couldn’t complain too much. The cookies themselves were just about ready to pull out of the oven, so he could package them up nicely enough that Mithos could bring some back to Martel too, if he wanted.

He was on his way to the room Mithos normally waited for him in when he overheard him talking to someone, and poked his head in to see…

...Mithos talking to...Genis had to take a few moments to remember the name of that dark-haired, dual swordsman in blue. Leon, he was pretty sure. Even though they were fairly close in age, Genis hadn’t really talked to him before, even though lately he seemed to be sitting in on Mithos’s visits more often. He had an intimidating aura that wasn’t helped by the fact that he carried his swords _everywhere_ with him, and Genis honestly wasn’t really sure he wanted to call attention to himself with Leon around.

But Mithos, with his angelically enhanced senses, had already heard him coming. He turned to the door and immediately brightened up--at least that was a good sign. “Genis! You got done a lot faster this time.”

“Yeah, I decided to make cookies this time, so that helped a lot on time.” He stepped over to the table the two were sitting at and presented the cookies, wrapped up in a box with a bow. “I wanted to make enough so that you could take some back with you, too.”

“Thank you, Genis. You’re always so thoughtful.”

Leon huffed, a surprisingly aggressive sound. “The way you suddenly turn all smiles whenever he’s involved is disgusting.”

Genis blinked. He’d been assuming, sort of, that Mithos and Leon might have been friends since they seemed to be spending more time together, but that was...not quite what he’d been expecting. Mithos, however, took it completely in stride, opening the box and taking out a cookie. “He’s certainly much more pleasant company than you are. By the way, Leon, you’re free to have a cookie or two if you want.” Mithos’s nice and sweet smile suddenly darkened, turning into an impish smirk. “I hear you’re always attending the Halloween festivities, so you must have quite a sweet tooth.”

Leon jerked like he’d been slapped. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? Genis’s cooking is to die for. Especially his sweets.”

Leon was eyeing the box of cookies, but otherwise made no move to actually take one...and seeing that after that little exchange of theirs, Genis had figured out what their relationship was like. Mithos sure did seem to attract some of the weirder people… But he still picked up a cookie from the box and nervously offered it to Leon. “Um, it’s totally okay if you want one. You like sweets, right? I don’t mind giving you some, since you’re one of Mithos’s friends.”

Both of them responded at the same time, in the same sharp tone. “We are _not_ friends.”

“Mithos is my _rival_ ,” Leon said, stressing the word as hard as he could. “Under absolutely no circumstances would I ever call him my friend.”

“You _wish_ I was your rival. The term rival would mean we’re on even ground, but that would imply you’re better than me in any way.”

Leon muttered, “Height,” under his breath, barely audible, and Mithos slammed his hands on the table and stood up so fast the chair he’d been sitting in tipped over onto the floor, already picking another fight with Leon. Genis rolled his eyes, but he could feel himself smiling, too--it was always nice to see Mithos had made a new friend here. Even if he refused to admit that was what this was.

It wasn’t often--if at all?--that he saw someone who could spark Mithos’s hilariously short temper that quickly, and despite everything, Genis figured that was a good thing. Mithos had a bad habit of lying and covering up how he really felt about things, so seeing him be so honest and open with how Leon pissed him off was, when all things were said and done, pretty cute. He snickered a little, and Leon glared at him full force. “Just what’s so funny?”

“Oh, ah, nothing really.” Genis was still holding the cookie. He’d offered it to Leon, but would it be impolite to just eat it himself at this point? “I was just thinking that it’s nice to see Mithos be so open with someone.”

“What could be _nice_ about--”

With a flick of his finger, Mithos levitated the cookie in Genis’s hands into the air and shot it with deadly precision right into Leon’s mouth, and he slammed his lips shut in surprise. Mithos grinned. “Well? It’s good like I said, right?”

Leon was glaring daggers at both of them now, but he still chewed and swallowed the cookie while Mithos returned his chair to the table. “...It’s passable,” he finally said, looking away from them and sitting back down.

“Don’t worry. That means he loved it, Genis.” And once he looked away from Leon, back to Genis? Mithos was smiling kindly again. “And I do, too. Thank you for making so many of them for me.”

Leon huffed again, but he still reached over and picked up another cookie from the box. “I completely fail to see how someone as nice as _you_ could be so close with _him._ Clearly he’s trying to disguise how many negative personality traits he has whenever he talks to you, but you really should’ve picked up on it by now.”

“Well, that’s not quite true…” Genis didn’t really know what he was supposed to do, being shoved into this situation like this, but there was really only one answer that anyone should have expected from him. “I think Mithos is a very nice person, and I’m really happy I met him. I always wish he’d stay a little longer when he visited…”

“I suppose there’s no accounting for taste,” Leon snarked, but he was still munching down another cookie.

“You’re just jealous there’s no one who likes you as much as Genis likes me.” _That_ was a huge leap of logic, but Genis didn’t have any time to try and refute that before Mithos took his hand and interlaced their fingers. He could feel his cheeks suddenly burning and his brain shorted out entirely as Mithos continued, “Is there anyone who would still call you kind if they saw what a pathetically short temper you had, or how you still managed to insult Genis, who was just trying to be nice to you? Come on now.”

“There is! Stahn would--” Leon cut himself short, all but smacking a hand over his own mouth, and Mithos grinned like a cat that had just caught itself a very plump mouse.

“Ahh, _right._ Stahn Aileron. You mentioned him before, too.” Mithos was still holding Genis’s hand, but squeezing it a little more than usual. Was he maybe a little unsure about the tact he was going with? Leon really was bringing out Mithos’s cuter side, but Genis figured he should wait a while to bring that up...if he ever did. “He’s that tall swordsman with the long blonde hair and the completely empty skull, right? Like you said, I suppose there’s no accounting for taste.”

“ _You_ are the blonde swordsman with no brain to match it, you--”

“You know,” Mithos said, cutting Leon off entirely with a sly grin, “he and I talked a little the other day. He said he wanted to thank me for befriending you, and that he’s really happy to see you’re talking to more people. In fact, he said that you’re _very_ important to him, and that’s why he’s so happy about it.”

Every single word Mithos said seemed to strike Leon with physical force, and Genis was starting to understand how the two of them had become friends so quickly. They were both externally pretty prickly, but showed a different side to certain, specific people, and outside of that, had difficulty being honest, with themselves and with others. Like attracted like, even if neither of them wanted to admit it--and it seemed like both of them would rather die than do that.

“It’s so _sad_ to me,” Mithos said, the smugness practically dripping off his words, “that Stahn can say you’re so important to him and you try to avoid even saying his name. Come on, Leon. Don’t you think he deserves a little bit better than that?”

“As if--as if you’re any better.”

“Don’t try and drag me into this. I can say that Genis is the most important person in the world to me all I want.” But despite the confidence in his words, Genis still hear Mithos’s voice hesitate just a little, and squeezed his hand a little tighter. As embarrassing as it was to hear Mithos say that out loud, it was the first time Mithos actually _had_ said it out loud, and that made him squeeze Mithos’s hand in return, his cheeks burning. Mithos and Leon really were good friends...and rivals too, Genis supposed, even if this was all kind of silly. “Can you do the same for Stahn?”

Leon glowered at them, and then took a deep breath. Apparently, his competitive streak was too strong to let this challenge go unheeded. “To me, Stahn is… He’s…”

He really seemed to be struggling to get the words out, but Mithos was just goading him on. Genis felt like he should probably say something. “Come on, Mithos. I think that’s a little too much.”

“Any self-professed rival of mine should at least be able to--”

The door suddenly slammed open, and a...tall swordsman with long blonde hair burst in. “Hey, Leon! I was looking for you! Rutee said you’d be around here, so I thought I’d stop by to see you.”

“Perfect timing,” Mithos murmured, more to Genis than to anyone else. “That’s the Stahn in question.”

“Stahn, right now isn’t--”

“You’re talking with your other friends, right? The more the merrier!” Genis was absolutely amazed by how outgoing Stahn was--he was even more intense than Lloyd, and that was saying a lot.

“We...we aren’t friends,” Leon protested weakly, and Mithos gracefully stood up and picked up the box of cookies.

“The two of us were just leaving, actually,” he said, smiling sweetly at the two of them. “You two have fun. Leon and I were just talking about you, actually.”

“Oh, thanks, Mithos!” Stahn had a smile like the sun. No wonder Leon was acting like that around him. “What were you two saying about me? C’mon, Leon! I wanna know, too!”

Mithos pulled Genis out of the room before Leon could respond, and the two walked a little ways together, still hand in hand. “...Mithos, that was mean.”

“It’s fine. If that idiot never got shaken up, he’d probably never say anything.” Mithos just squeezed Genis’s hand again. “...And you really are the most important person in the world to me, Genis. I wasn’t just saying that to say it.”

Genis couldn’t help but smile, holding Mithos’s hand tight, like it was the most precious treasure in the world. No matter how rude or prickly Mithos could be, even when he was intentionally picking at someone, it was always with the kindest of intentions in his heart, and that was why Mithos was the most important person in the world to him, too. “I know you weren’t. So, what do you want to do today, Mithos?”

“Well…”


End file.
